Yesterday morning, the Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf resigned.
What doomed Yousaf’s fate was his poor decision to end the agreement with the Scottish Greens, which had been signed by his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon to ensure a pro-independence and progressive majority government. After many months of successful cooperation, a crisis arose in recent weeks over the decision to downscale Scotland’s ambition in fighting climate change by scrapping the interim targets in greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
This decision was certainly deflating, but it’s worth keeping in mind that Scotland’s climate targets were among the most ambitious in the world and the Greens are very rarely in government in Europe, let alone in other parts of the globe. Not to mention that all European governments, including the UK one, have downgraded their climate ambitions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ultimately, Scotland’s frustrated climate ambition was the reflection of its constant attempt to do better and show to be good enough to stand up on its own feet and succeed at an exam that never seems to arrive.
As Yousaf put it, he had “clearly underestimated the level of hurt and upset” that his abrupt decision to end the power-sharing agreement had caused, and he therefore decided to resign. While this situation is certainly less than desirable, especially for the SNP, it is worth comparing the humility with which Yousaf decided to step down following a crisis to how many of his counterparts in England had to be dragged away kicking and screaming, despite the litany of scandals they triggered.
From our standpoint, it is also important to stress that Scotland’s humane and compassionate foreign politics under Yousaf and his predecessors, in contrast once again to many other leaders, has been a beacon of hope for Europe and for the people suffering outside its borders, whether in Gaza or in Ukraine.
Now the SNP needs to rebuild its relationship with the Greens, and Yousaf’s prompt resignation is already helping – the Greens have said they will vote against the no confidence motion called by Labour. So it seems the pro-independence pro-European majority in the Scottish Parliament will continue for a bit longer. In our opinion, this is a good thing – not just for Scotland, but also for Europe and for all those who would like to address the UK constitutional crisis, which has not gone away and will in fact be exacerbated by the looming power shift towards an increasingly less democratic Labour party.
It would also be wrong to think that support for Scottish independence is declining – in fact, it is as high as it has always been in the last few years. What this crisis shows is weakness in the current direction of the Scottish government, which is reduced to management – under very difficult circumstances – without a vision. The parties that seek Scottish self-determination will need to retrieve a strategy and a sense of purpose, which is not going to be easy in the face of the continuous denial of democracy from the UK government. But that purpose is what will also help to reinvigorate Scotland’s rich democratic tapestry of movements and civic society.
Ultimately, a crisis originating from a denial of democracy can only be overcome by a robust democratic process, both across Scotland, through a Constitutional Convention of sorts, and in the Scottish Parliament, which in its 25 years of existence has shown to work much better than Westminster also thanks to its institutional inclination towards power sharing.
Let us conclude by saying that in a world full of dramatic challenges that increasingly look like collective nightmares, we wish to reiterate our sympathy and support for Scotland’s dream to build a fairer and more democratic nation, which would also contribute to the much-needed strengthening of democracy in Europe and across the globe.
